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Informative,
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2 reviews

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
by John Carreyrou

Published: 2018-05-21
Kindle Edition : 320 pages
6 members reading this now
117 clubs reading this now
2 members have read this book
Recommended to book clubs by 2 of 2 members
A National Bestseller

"Chilling…Reads like a West Coast version of All the President’s Men." —The New York Times Book Review

The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of Theranos, the multibillion-dollar biotech startup, by the prize-winning journalist who ...
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Introduction

A National Bestseller

"Chilling…Reads like a West Coast version of All the President’s Men." —The New York Times Book Review

The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of Theranos, the multibillion-dollar biotech startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end, despite pressure from its charismatic CEO and threats by her lawyers.


In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood testing significantly faster and easier. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at more than $9 billion, putting Holmes's worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn't work.

A riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley.
 

Editorial Review

An Amazon Best Book of May 2018: In Bad Blood, the Wall Street Journal’s John Carreyrou takes us through the step-by-step history of Theranos, a Silicon Valley startup that became almost mythical, in no small part due to its young, charismatic founder Elizabeth Holmes. In fact, Theranos was mythical for a different reason, because the technological promise it was founded upon—that vital health information could be gleaned from a small drop of blood using handheld devices—was a lie. Carreyrou tracks the experiences of former employees to craft the fascinating story of a company run under a strict code of secrecy, a place where leadership was constantly throwing up smoke screens and making promises that it could not keep. Meanwhile, investors kept pouring in money, turning Elizabeth Holmes into a temporary billionaire. As companies like Walgreens and Safeway strike deals with Theranos, and as even the army tries to get in on the Theranos promise (there’s a brief cameo by James “Mad Dog” Mattis), the plot thickens and the proverbial noose grows tighter. Although I knew how the story ended, I found myself reading this book compulsively. – Chris Schluep

Excerpt

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Discussion Questions

Suggested by Members

Talk about the security detail involved at Theranos, why did she have bullet-proof glass in her office and why all the security guards? Rupert Murdock for example only had one. Where did the paranoid come from and do you think Sunny influenced her?
How she was able to get Henry Kissinger, Rupert Murdock and the Clintons to name a few to invest or become an ally? Was she just a good showman?
Why do you think she used a fake voice?
by [email protected] (see profile) 06/17/19

Notes From the Author to the Bookclub

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Book Club Recommendations

Member Reviews

Overall rating:
 
 
by Jacquie T. (see profile) 01/15/24

 
by Beth M. (see profile) 07/23/22

 
by Diana F. (see profile) 03/12/22

Enjoyed it because it didn’t leave anything out but also didn’t give unnecessary details. Sad that Schultz believed Holmes’s propaganda instead of his grandson’s truths.

 
by Karoly D. (see profile) 03/09/21

 
by Kelly D. (see profile) 03/01/21

 
by julie l. (see profile) 10/26/20

This book was interesting, especially as the world is in a Pandemic and lab testing HAS become a topic of concern on occasion after reading this it made me think about the current lab testing. It brings... (read more)

 
by Jen R. (see profile) 10/03/20

 
by Emma W. (see profile) 06/25/20

 
by morgan c. (see profile) 06/01/20

 
by Malchom N. (see profile) 02/28/20

Great read. Read like a movie. Insane that this actually happened. So many red flags were ignored. I felt compassion for Elizabeth, while at the same time annoyed & angry about the way she went above things.... (read more)

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